Rick Pitino Really Doesn’t Like Social Media

In an appearance on ESPN’s “Mike and Mike” earlier today, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino shared his opinion on social media.

Long story short, he’s not a fan.

Pitino has banned his players from tweeting and has said that if it were up to him, he wouldn’t let them use other forms of social media, either. He also isn’t a fan of Instagram, calling it “a total waste of time.”

“Every hour, it’s like taking a little bit of poison,” Pitino said during an appearance Wednesday on ESPN Radio’s “Mike and Mike.” “It poisons their minds.

“I think technology is a great thing in many instances, and I think it’s poison in others, and for people in sports especially.”

He said his players concede they use social media at least four hours a day.

“I’m trying to get our players to read more, pay attention to important things,” the Hall of Fame coach said.

“We as parents and teachers, we want our children, we want our players to communicate, to articulate a message, to get in front of a human resources person and articulate their passion for wanting a job,” he said. “We’re losing our abilities to communicate, especially young people today.”

Pitino may be onto something: his Cardinals are 22-4 on the season and are the 11th ranked team in America.